Thursday, April 10, 2014

So Wednesday Was Fun...A Synopsis of My Day

Wednesday turned out to be a look at, touch, and experiment day and I had a great time playing, even if I did have to go all over the city to do so.

From one end of the city to the opposite end. Yesterday I felt a bitlike I was running in a hamster wheel...

I started off (after a nice breakfast) deciding to check out the Mazda SUV I'm thinking about buying. The photographs on the website just didn't give enough detail about the interior and I wanted to know what it felt like inside the car, how the gauges looked from my perspective as a driver, and I also wanted to take a test drive if possible.

All too often car salesmen assume that since I'm a woman, I'm only interestedin the color choices, the seat materials and the entertainment features. No.I'm interested in the engineering, the fuel economy and the handling. Afterthose criteria are satisfied, then we can discuss the appearance choices.

I couldn't have had a much better experience - so different from the test drive I had with the Kia Soul a few weeks ago. This salesperson was perfectly happy to let me look over the car at my leisure, but answered questions when I had them. He offered me a test drive, not even requiring that he come along with me although I wanted him there to answer questions that I thought about as we drove. He was respectful and non condescending and I love the car. He left me with a brochure, pricing information, etc. and I went onward to the next look-over with thoughts of a new car swirling in my head. I think I may have found the car I want. Now to figure out when and how to arrange for the financing. I don't know if I want it soon or if I would prefer to wait until later this year, but I'll know more when I get my Cruiser looked at by my repair shop within a week or so.

I'm looking at the Mazda CX-5. The interior is lux and is actually fairly wellplotted out. As with any car, there will be a learning curve. But I likedwhat I was seeing. I will absolutely do at least one more test drive beforemaking my final decision.

After a quick stop at the grocer and at home to drop the ice cream into the freezer and start my first load of laundry, I drove south - far south - to Mall of America to take a closer look at the Surface Pro 2 by Microsoft.

I think this would be my final configuration for my Surface Pro 2. Thestylus on the right comes with it, the keyboard/cover is extra butmandatory for my needs as a writer. I'll get MS Office Professionalinstalled and I'll be good to go. I still am reading reviews, though...

I'm really liking this tablet. As a laptop replacement it seems to work exceptionally well. I won't be doing my storage on it - not a lot of room there - but I do a lot with the Cloud already and I really want this as a carry-along backup system to my desktop computer which is my main system and where all of my items will eventually reside. I need a laptop that is (1) lighter than the one I currently use, (2) able to run Microsoft Office Pro 2013 and (3) which is closer to a tablet size. I've looked at convertibles - Dell, Lenovo and HP - but I haven't been overwhelmed with them. My laptop is on its end game - it's old and it still runs Windows XP which is now not supported, so the writing is on the wall. I need something else. I'm just not 100% sure this is the solution yet. But probably. But maybe not. But maybe.

Windows 8 will take a little getting used to, but I've been getting usedto software upgrades for many years now. It's just another system andanother way of getting data in and out. I'll figure it out and it'll be fun.

I spent more than half an hour talking with the salesperson, asking questions, looking at specifications, trying out the various parts. I really liked the system. Then I sat for another 15-20 minutes just playing with the system on my own. Yeah. It's really nice. I know that at least one of my LJ friends owns a Surface and loves it, so that's helpful too.

The joy of income taxes. They are due on Tuesday, so we need to get everythingfiled, paid, and mailed (or e-filed) quickly.

After a stop at my local grocer for salad fixings, yogurt (on sale - SCORE!) and other sundries, I returned home and settled down for ... an hour. I continued with the laundry, but then DH called and said our accountant had phoned and our taxes were ready for pick-up. So...I ran over there to pick them up and then was finally able to relax for an hour before Aearwen called and we lost ourselves in our weekly chat. FUN!

I love my weekly chats with Aearwen. We never know what we'll endup talking about, but we always enjoy the journey.

So, I had a really nice Wednesday. I found a car, I found a computer, and I linked up with a friend again, and through all of that, the only money I spent was on my groceries (and The Hobbit - Desolation of Smaug, of course - LOL).

I usually don't leave my laptop hibernating for two days! I hope itstarts up properly later this morning...

So now it's Thursday and the week is progressing. I guess I'd better get some writing going. I haven't even cracked my laptop open for the past two days. I hope it starts properly since I've had it in hibernate mode... Have a fantastic and fulfilling day!